


Don't Go Into The Forest Unless You Know Your Way Out

by Quirkyasfok



Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 08:23:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16909494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quirkyasfok/pseuds/Quirkyasfok
Summary: Numb.I just feel numb.Before me stands the rusted wired fence that haunts my dreams. Behind it I can see the tree’s that make up the forest, and beyond that a graveyard I’ve only heard exists. This is the fence that took all of them. That took the ones I care for away. That cared for me.My friends.No.My family.It’s my fault though. Every one of them I am to blame. Everyone…Everyone.It’s my turn now.It should have been my turn a long time ago. Maybe, if I had gone all of them would still be here?Maybe?It’s my turn.





	Don't Go Into The Forest Unless You Know Your Way Out

**Author's Note:**

> Please Read!
> 
> Hello! So, this is actually the first chapter of my book that I have published on Amazon. If you like it and want to read the rest then please go to Amazon and get yourself a copy! I even decided to mark it down a few dollars for the holidays so... Yay! 
> 
> Thank you! 
> 
> Here's a link to the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1720246106

Numb.

I just feel numb.

Before me stands the rusted wired fence that haunts my dreams. Behind it I can see the tree’s that make up the forest, and beyond that a graveyard I’ve only heard exists. This is the fence that took all of them. That took the ones I care for away. That cared for me. My friends.

No.

My family.

It’s my fault though. Every one of them I am to blame. Everyone…

Everyone.

 

Abby was the youngest of our group and the first to go. She had only been five years old when I dared her to go inside the fence. It had been a simple little joke, and I never thought she would do it.

The joke went wrong though.

Abby had smiled that gaped tooth smile of hers, bright sky blues eyes twinkling with wonder and innocence.  
She had agreed.

The last I can remember of her is the back of her favorite dress, overly pink with white frills, and long blonde curly hair bouncing as she skipped into the forest. She disappeared quickly, being swallowed by the trees.

The next to go was the second youngest of the group, Trevor. He had only been seven when I dared him. Soft green eyes, messy short black hair, and wearing his overly worn stripped sweater and grey shorts. He had always been the quietest. Shy and clumsy. He averted his eyes from our own, and constantly tripped over thin air, but he had looked me straight in the eyes as he agreed to my dare. He had climbed the fence and marched into the trees as though nothing could stop him. I had never seen him look as courageous as the day he disappeared within the trees.

I would never forget that look on his face.

The third youngest went next. I know surprise, right? There were two of them, but they were always together and counted themselves as one. The Ash Twins, Cash and Sash. Both of them ten years old, and one five minutes older than the other. They looked completely the same too, making it almost impossible to tell them apart. Long brown hair, bright-brown mischievous filled eyes, faded jeans, and red t-shirts. The only notable difference about them was the youngest, Sash, always wore a bright red hat.

Even after they had agreed to the dare, ran off into the woods, and disappeared I could hear their jokes and laughter echoing through the trees.

Fourth to go was Madeline. She was only thirteen and full of creativity. Long brown-loose hair, and bright blue eyes filled with ideas. I had dared her just like the rest. I can still remember her running into the forest as though embracing it. Short skirt bouncing, black paint covered tank-top, and striped stockings I’d watch her sew together herself.  
It wasn’t long after her disappearance that her artwork vanished as well.

Richard, or Richie as we called him, was fourteen, and the next who accepted my cruel dare. The fifth one to go beyond the gate. Richie had always been the overly adventurous type of our group. He always had to be active and moving. I remember that his favorite activity was to climb trees. His pale legs were always covered in scratches from the branches slapping against his skin, black hoodie torn from being snagged too many times, determined look in his brown eyes, and blonde hair knotted with twigs and leaves.  
He had disappeared while yelling about finding the tallest tree to climb.

Last to go was my best friend of our group, Seth, a year younger than me at the age of fifteen. He was the quiet-advice giving type. He was always the one to think about everything, and every possibility before doing something.

It makes me wonder why he even accepted my terrible dare.

His leaving always struck out the most to me too. It just played over and over in my mind. He had walked only a few feet beyond the gate when he stopped and turned back towards me. Reddish-brown hair blowing in the breeze, green eyes shadowed from the trees, long stripped sleeves worn at the edges, torn jeans, and a small eerie smile. He had whispered to me. So quiet that I had only heard from the wind carrying his voice. A phrase that haunted me to this very day. Just like the sign and the fence.

He had whispered, “Don’t be afraid.”

Then vanished.

 

They’re all gone now. I’m all that’s left.

Not anymore.

It’s my turn now. It should have been my turn a long time ago. Maybe, if I had gone all of them would still be here?

Maybe?

It’s my turn.

There’s a sign outside the gate. A warning for all those who have and ever will think about entering the tall iron death trap. It’s rusted and heavily dented, but you can still just barely make out in faded rusty-red letters ‘Don’t Go into the Forest Unless You Know Your Way Out.’ These words have haunted me my whole life. Without the sign the fence would have been nothing, but a normal old fence that lined the back of our property and separated the house from the woods. But the sign existed.

The sign made the fence mysterious, made us all curious, and had us all sharing stories as to what it could possibly mean. None of which were very positive stories. There were stories of kids like us forever lost, stories of monsters roaming through the woods, or the cursed graveyard that once you step foot in you could never leave. I grew up hearing those stories from the kids older than me, and when I became the big kid in charge I shared them with the kids younger than me.  
How I wish I hadn’t done that.

We’d dare each other all the time to climb the fence too. Just take one step inside. Only one. It was a joke. We’d sometimes shove each other towards the fence. Laugh when the other person squeaked in fear, and then laugh together as a full-on shove match began. Nobody ever got hurt though. I made sure of that.  
Until that one day though.

Without these words, without this fence, all my friends would still be here. But my friends are gone, and all that remains are the words still written on that damn sign and the tall dark iron fence it was stuck to.

They’re all gone now.

All lost behind the gate.

Their fates sealed away.

 

I grip onto the top of the rusted fence. My feet planted into the tiny holes created by the twisted wires. Tiny pieces of metal tear at my clothes and dig into my hands. The cold of the iron seeps through my skin making me shiver.

It’s a slow climb over. I’ve never been a very athletic person, and even as I climb at a snail’s pace I can’t seem to catch my breath. It doesn’t help that I can’t get my body to stop shaking. Whether this is from fear or cold; I have no idea.

I don’t even bother to climb down the other side. I drop down on the opposite side of the fence before I can chicken out.

My first step beyond the gate is stranger than I ever imaged it to be. Not by the weirdness of it, but by the fact that it feels so normal.

A gush of warm wind surrounds me.

 

The gate - a cold warning.

The wind - a warm welcome.

 

I step further within the gate and take my first step into the forest. Trees sway around me. A feeling of dread crawls up my spine.

I disappear…


End file.
